Protests in Serbia Archive
Odraz B92 Daily News Service

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service

    Odraz B92 vesti (by 1 AM), February 3, 1997

    E-mail: odrazb92@b92.opennet.org, beograd@siicom.com
    WWW:    http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/, http://www.opennet.org/b92/
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    All texts are Copyright 1997 Radio B92. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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    NEWS BY 3 PM
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    RIOT POLICE USES FORCE: MANY SEVERELY INJURED

    Sunday evening saw the most violent use of force against the
    peaceful demonstrators in Belgrade so far. Huge groups of
    protesters from all parts of Belgrade began their marches towards
    the city centre at 7:30 p.m. in order to attend the rally of the
    Zajedno opposition coalition in Republic Square. Several thousands
    of protesters, led by Vuk Draskovic, walked towards city centre
    from the borough of New Belgrade. Riot police cordons stopped them
    at the bridge across the river Sava. Vuk Draskovic unsuccessfully
    tried to talk police commander into letting the protesters cross
    the bridge, so the crowd was forced to stay at the beggining of
    the bridge for hours. Police commander told Mr. Draskovic that the
    crowd must withdraw or the police would ``act according to the
    law.'' Draskovic also tried to persuade the protesters to leave
    the bridge and leave him stand there alone, but the crowd refused.
    Meanwhile, another several thousands of protesters, led by Zoran
    Djindjic, arrived in Republic Square. Having heard what was
    happening on the bridge across the river Sava, crowd immediately
    set off towards the bridge. In a street leading directly to the
    bridge, they were also stopped by a riot police cordon. Around
    11:40 PM police intervened on the both sides of the bridge, using
    water cannons and truncheons. Crowds of people were dispersed,
    many of them severely injured. Police then went on a free chase
    after small groups of protesters in the city centre. Radio B92
    reported that 4 police officers entered the building of the School
    of Philosophy, where a number of demonstrators had taken refuge.
    The police injured some of the student medical staff and security
    people there. The Zajedno leaders phoned Radio B92 from different
    parts of the city where they had taken shelter in. Vuk Draskovic
    claimed that he had been shot at. Vesna Pesic said she had been
    beaten by the police. Zoran Djindjic said that the opposition was
    not discouraged by the violence of the police and that there was
    no reason for the opposition to stop their street protests.
    Reporters of Radio B92 talked to several people who had been
    severely injured and witnessed that the riot police were present
    in unprecedented numbers in the streets of Belgrade. The Zajedno
    coalition announced a protest rally ``Against Violence'' for
    Monday at 3 p.m.


    SEVENTY-THIRD PROTEST OF BELGRADE STUDENTS

    Students of the Belgrade University held their 73rd protest at the
    November electoral fraud on Sunday. Some 15,000 students marched
    to the Radio Television Serbia and the company Politika buildings
    ``to rid the state media of their darkness.'' The police did not
    hinder them.


    RECOGNITION OF ELECTORAL RESULTS WILL NOT TERMINATE CRISIS

    Recognition of the November 17 local election results will not end
    the current political crisis in Serbia, Zoran Djindjic, one of the
    Zajedno leaders, told the AFP on Sunday. He said that the protests
    would not stop unless major changes in Serbia were effected,
    whether the opposition headed the protests or not.


    SESELJ CALLS FOR DIALOGUE

    Vojislav Seselj, leader of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), called
    on all political forces to sensibility and dialogue in order to
    avert the possible clashes in the streets, an SRS statement said
    on Sunday. Mr. Seselj told the television 'Neutron' of
    Arandjelovac that SRS was in favour of recognition of November 17
    results ``but through legal means, which can be done only by a
    high court and not the Belgrade Electoral Commission.''


    1,300 SCHOOLS ON STRIKE

    According to the data of the Trade Union of educational workers in
    Vojvodina, 1,300 schools throughout Serbia were on strike by
    Sunday.


    BELGRADE ELECTORAL COMMISSION KEEPS DELIVERING ILLEGAL DECISIONS

    Arandjel Markicevic, Serbian Minister of Justice, stated on Sunday
    that the Belgrade Electoral Commission kept delivering illegal
    decisions for the sake of appearing in television shows and
    reports in the press, Television Politika reported on Sunday. The
    Belgrade Electoral Commission had previously confirmed the victory
    of the opposition in the local elections in Belgrade.


    DSK: SITUATION IN KOSOVO TENSE AND PRONE TO EXPLOSION

    The management of the Democratic Union (DSK) of Kosovo assessed on
    Sunday that the situation in Kosovo was still tense and on the
    verge of explosion. The DSK based this claim on the numerous
    arrests, police maltreatment of the ethnic Albanians and other
    incidents, such as the one in which 3 ethnic Albanians were
    killed.

    Prepared by: Marija Milosavljevic and Goran Dimitrijevic
    Edited by: [unedited]

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service
    E-mail: odrazb92@b92.opennet.org, beograd@siicom.com
    WWW:    http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/, http://www.opennet.org/b92/
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